As we prepare for our 2nd public Beta release of Animon Arena we are super-excited to share some additional features that we will be adding to address several things we learned from Beta 1. One of the new features we will be testing out in Beta 2 is timed battles.
Timed battles provide several benefits for the player:
- Same game, more excitement
- Stars for everyone, even if you lose
- Players can now win, lose or draw
Let’s dive into each of these in more detail:
Same game, more excitement
As the timer is counting down, 5…4….3….2…1 you complete a gem match that performs the perfect attack that ties the game! Oh yeah!!! OVERTIME! 60 more seconds are added to the clock, but now it’s sudden death. But you notice something. The time allocated for each turn is counting down faster than normal! Who will win this match? Back and forth you and your opponent go. Attack, recovery, heal, and once again, the timer is counting down, 5…4…3…2…1 and it’s a DRAW!
There is just something unique about knowing that you have a limited time to accomplish a goal. It can cause us to work a little harder or faster, or be more creative. We believe timed battles in Animon Arena help make the battles more fun.
For Beta 2 the game timer will be set to 3 minutes, with an optional 1 minute overtime. What causes a game to go into overtime? If both players have an equal # of stars and the time runs out, then the game will go into overtime, adding 60 seconds onto the countdown clock.
Stars for everyone, even if you lose
For Beta 2 we have changed the way stars are calculated. Previously, stars were awarded based on the ending health of the winning player. If the winning player had very high health at the end of the match, then they could receive up to 4 stars. If they barely survived, then they would receive only 1 star. For Beta 2, stars are awarded based on the animon that a player defeats from their opponent.
If each player has 5 animon on his/her team, then each animon will be worth 1 star. If a player has less than 5 animon, then each animon will be worth more than 1 star, and will involve rounding.
For instance, if you had 3 animon on your team, then each animon will be equal to 1.67 stars (5 / 3 = 1.67). And, if a player defeats 2 of your animon, then they will receive 3 stars (1.67 x 2 = 3.33). If a player defeats all 3 of your animon, then will receive 5 stars.
In Beta 2, both winners and losers will receive their stars at the end of the battle.
Players can now Win, Lose or Draw
Prior to implementing timed battles, it wasn’t realistic or feasible to have a draw (tie). Someone had to win, and the only way to win was to defeat all of your opponents animon, which sometimes resulted in long battles, particularly with equally matched players. That is now changed.
If both players have an equal # of stars when the Overtime timer runs out, then it will be considered a Draw resulting in the following:
- Both players will receive the stars they acquired during the battle
- Neither player will receive any additional rewards including card packs
- Neither player will gain or lose any trophies
We think you will enjoy these changes for Beta 2, which should be released in the next week or two. Let us know your thoughts and comments below.
4 thoughts on “Win, Lose or Draw”
During the first beta, a turn consisted of the time to use abilities, the time to move gems, and the the animation time. I was wondering if the timer would only count down during the gem moving phase, or if it would work during the whole turn.
Good question. At this point, the battle timer continues to count down on both players devices no matter what else is happening. Nothing stops the match timer from counting down. Because Animon Arena is a turn-based game, having a timer has presented some challenges, which we are still working to address.
The primary challenge is when the timer counts down to 00:00 and the active player (the one making a move), finishes an attack as the timer reaches 00:00 resulting in either extending the game into overtime, or winning the game. Since there may be a second or two delay for the other player to be notified of this, we need to ensure the other player doesn’t think the game is over, just because it reached 00:00 of their device, if that makes sense. We are still working to address this scenario.
I think that people will learn to expect the overtime after a little experience. Perhaps you could implement “quick tips” during loading screens (similar to league of legends) in order to help players learn the mechanics and other aspects of the game passively.
Another good point Tucker. We have discussed providing “tips” on numerous occasions, but it’s never floated to the top of our priority list. Thanks for bringing it back on the radar. We definitely see implementing tips on loading screens, especially when waiting to pair up with a player for battle.